After a little over a year of constant use I am looking for a durable upgrade for the stock earphones Apple supplied with my original Ipod purchase. I tend to be hard on equipment, so I'm looking for a "value for money" replacement. After reading several reviews I narrowed the search to the VSonic RO2-Pro's, the Head-Direct RE2's and have now included Yuin's OK3's (because the last is presently on-sale through Head-Direct for $59). As all of these fall within budget, I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest, but rather the best set given the associated price tag.

Head-Direct RE2 $99
VSonic RO2-Pro's $69
Yuin OK3's $59

My impression from reading all of your reviews on the previous earbuds is that the Head-Direct RE2's are by far the best of the lot (9.6 rating). And yet you wrote the review for the RE2's about two months before writing the review of the OK3's. Can you comment on which of these you'd choose in a value for money sense and what you see as the tradeoff's?

Thanks,

TRW

As a side note, I was surprised that you gave the Yuin's such a high rating (9.0) given the general complaints about the short cable, the lack of sufficient accessories to make a good fit for the canal-phones, etc.

TRW,
The reason why I rate the Yuins so highly is because their sound quality is incredibly good compared to the price. In ear bud mode they perform extremely good. The Head-Direct RE2s are the best compromise all around (noise attenuation, good sound, reasonable bundle, great fit).

The R02-PROs are also brilliant for the price, but sound quality wise the RE2s outperforms them on all accounts. Price / Performance as in-ears the RE2s are the best, if you do not need the isolation the OK3s will give you the best bang for the buck sound wise.

hi... great review.. only problem is that i read an equally appealing review of the SoundMagic PL-50.. Since the price difference between the two isnt much where i'm buying it from, i'm really confused between the two...

One the one hand, I listen mostly to rock, but I like to have a V-eq most of the time for the nice lows and highs.. I dont have much experience in high-end audio and the best IEM's i've owned so far are the SoundMagic's Pl-21's, and I found them very good... I thought it was time for an upgrade and hence the purchase..

Burn in never hurts, I haven't used the sennheisers, so I couldn't compare. Mine are definately "looser" than when they were new. I think they sound better with the traditional black inserts than the clear double flanges.

Burn in never hurts, I haven't used the sennheisers, so I couldn't compare. Mine are definately "looser" than when they were new. I think they sound better with the traditional black inserts than the clear double flanges.

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hmm good idea, i've got those huge clear ones on right now, will try the others.

edit: yep the medium black ones are a better fit so it does sound a little better. It still feels extremely light on the bass however - will burn in help there? i've used them less than an hour so far.

edit 2: mine came with some small rings with the different tips, any idea what they do?